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Am Currently... #9

Hi everyone! It's been some time since I've done one of these posts, and since so much has happened in the last two months, I thought I'd give you allll the updates! The last few weeks have been crammed with assignments and exams (Australian schools' winter holidays begin in July) so I didn't have as much time as I would have liked for reading and writing, but as always, I found a way to squeeze them in. Now, as for what I'm reading...

For English we were assigned The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood to read, and I really enjoyed it! Some parts made me feel a little bit uncomfortable, but as my teacher said, we're reading very controversial texts this year, so I expected certain scenes and was able to skim/skip them. The book discusses some very interesting points, and if you're a mature reader, I think there's lot to be learned from the writing style! As for pleasure reading, I'm about a third of the way into A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray. I don't think it will be my favourite book, but the world-building really intrigues me and I feel there are incoming plot twists that will blow my mind...

On the writing front, most of my focus has been on second draft revisions/editing of Golden Revenge. To sum up the project: "A refugee's quest for revenge collides with a cursed golden princess's desire for freedom." I'm nearing the end of rewrites, and have been sending earlier chapters to my wonderful critique partner (*hugs if you're reading this*)! They've been incredibly helpful, and I know the direction I'll need to take in the next draft thanks to them! Apart from Golden Revenge, I had to write a short story for my Extension English course, which both thrilled and terrified me. Thrilled, because, you know, writing! But it terrified me because it was supposed to be around 1500 words. For me that's incredibly short, so I really had to work on nailing down key points and characters. It ended up being around 2000 words, but I was still able to write it in the time limit! I titled the dystopian short story BRAXEN76. I based it off the ancient law "an eye for a eye", except in this society it's taken a step further to "a life for a life." Here's a short snippet:

It was a moment, maybe two, before the judge spoke next, Steele’s metal side knew it. But her meaty heart didn’t. It squeezed, stopped, shuddered within a space of time, like the moment before a bomb explodes, its silver hide arching through air.

Unstoppable.

"I have granted Steele Caelus the right to kill."

I've been in love with Carrie Underwood's latest album, Storyteller! I don't usually listen to country music, but the stories in her songs are so beautifully crafted it's hard not to enjoy them. As usual, I've also had my favourite movie soundtracks on repeat (Beauty and the Beast, Prince of Egypt, and La La Land).

Pretty well! I'm excited to get into my writing today and immerse myself into my characters' stories. Writing endings always gives me a thrill! As for my personal life, the last few months have been a bit of roller-coaster ride for me emotionally, but I understand that's part of transitioning, and God and all the lovely people in my life have been helping me through it. That brings us to the end of this month's Am Currently! I hope you have a wonderful month, be it summer or winter, and achieve all your goals!

What are you writing at the moment? (Yes, I will be doing Camp NaNo!) What books do I NEED to read? Any songs you're playing on repeat at the moment?

I'm glad you've had a good couple of months and that your writing is going well! I know what you mean about short stories though - I always go way over the word counts too, and it's just so tough to cut things out :)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with the wordcount of short stories! I think being novelists, it can be really hard to try and condense the story because we have so many ideas! Thanks so much for commenting Laura! <3

I have also been listening to La la land soundtrack on repeat!:D Especially that last song, it brings such feels back.

Also loving... For King and Country's newest song "Oh God, Forgive Us". It's reallllly good and listening to Hans Zimmer, Eurielle and Thomas Bergersen as usual. I'm pretty obsessed with epic music as you can see. XD

Best of luck with Camp! Unfortunately, I can't do it this year due to personal conflicts, but I'll definitely be cheering y'all on! Dude, I love that snippet of your short story <3 I just finished Resistance by Jaye L. Knight, my first ever Christian fiction! I enjoyed it way more than I expected to. I think you might like it!

Thanks Ellie! That's too bad; hopefully you can participate next time! :D Ahhh thank you, I'm so glad. Sharing snippets of my work always makes me so nervous. XD That book looks amazing on Goodreads, I'll definitely have to check it out! Thank you so much for the recommendation and commenting! <3

Thanks Audrey! :D Haha yeah "extravagant" is one way to describe my average word count as well. XD Definitely try to check it out, it's a great album! Ooh okay thanks for the recs, I need to listen to those songs. Thank you so much for commenting! :D